In his article ‘Official Statistics and Scientific Research’, Dr Ole Schröder examines the importance of official statistics for science, research and evidence-based policy.
Official statistics provide a key foundation for scientific analysis and political decision-making. At the same time, the question arises as to how research data can be made accessible in a way that facilitates academic work without compromising data protection, confidentiality and legal requirements.
The article examines the collaboration between statistics, research and government bodies. It demonstrates that access to microdata and research data is a key component in generating insights and providing sound bases for decision-making. In the social and economic sciences in particular, the quality of scientific research depends crucially on relevant datasets being available, comprehensible and usable in a legally compliant manner.
The publication therefore remains relevant from today’s perspective: issues of data access, data use and the legal framework for scientific research continue to shape the debate on data repositories, open data and digital governance.